Informed Consent Form
Dear Research Participant:
You are invited to participate in my Ph.D. dissertation study concerning shared dreaming. For the purposes of this study a shared dream is when two people within the context of an intimate personal relationship experience the same or remarkably similar dream.
Participation in this study is completely through the Internet. You will be asked to fill out a demographic questionnaire and then asked simple questions about activities you do, opinions about your self, and your views about life. For this part of the study you should allow approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes of undisturbed time to complete the process. After this point you may take a break if you choose and log back on to the website at a later time.
Then you will be asked to share your experience with shared dreaming in as much detail as you can. This includes all sensory experience if it occurred as well as your emotional state during the dream. Then you will be asked to share how you realized that the dream you experienced was indeed a shared dream. For this you will again be asked to share as much detail as possible and consider how your feelings may have changed in this process of discovery. Finally you will be asked how this whole experience may have affected your relationship in any way immediately after the shared dream and in the longer term since then. It is estimated that this part will take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on your shared dreaming experience.
To protect your privacy your name will not be used in the study. All information received from you will be kept confidential as to source by means of a number coding system assigned to your information. Your personal identification information (name, email address) needed for identifying you will only be accessible by me, Frank Pascoe, M.S., the head researcher. All personal digital information will be held in password protected computer storage and secure Internet host sites. Any hardcopies of personally identifiable information will be kept in a locked file cabinet. Any persons assisting with this study, such as transcription of data or technical assistance with data handling, will only participate after signing a Transcriber Confidentiality Agreement.
This study has been designed to minimize risk to participants and the researcher has been unable to identify any potential drawbacks to participating in this study. Shared dreaming is an unusual experience. Your participation in this research will contribute to the scientific knowledge of shared dreaming as well as to the field of transpersonal psychology in general. By recalling and going-over this experience you may learn about yourself as you could from looking at more common dreams too. Your participation in this study is voluntary at all times. However should you at anytime during the process feel uncomfortable for any reason you, the participant, may withdraw from the study simply by stopping without any penalty or prejudice.
The process is meant to be enjoyable and straightforward. Should any issues arise that cannot be addressed by simply withdrawing from the study, a list of psychotherapists who you may talk with is available. Should you feel the need for further action, the chairperson of my dissertation committee, Kartikeya Patel, Ph.D. (kpatel@itp.edu), is also available as is the chair of the Research Ethics Committee, Fred Luskin, Ph.D. (fluskin@itp.edu).
If you have any questions now or at a later date the head researcher, Frank Pascoe, M.S. can be reached by email at: frank@mysticalcompany.com, by regular mail at:
2253 Wooded Knolls Drive,
Philomath, OR 97370
or by telephone at: 541-929-6156.
You may request a summary of the research findings by checking appropriate box below.
TERMS OF SURVEY
I attest that I have read and understood this form. The researcher has explained the study and answered any questions about this research to my satisfaction. My participation in this research is entirely voluntary; no pressure has been applied to encourage my participation.
I further attest that for this study I have experienced a Shared Dream (the experience of two people having the same dream), was born in the United States, was in an intimate love relationship with the person with whom I had this experience with at the time of the experience, have a good memory of the experience, am willing to answer questionnaires regarding personality and experience, and share in detail my experience of Shared Dreaming.
Shared Dreaming Survey